1 hour ago, Wiseblood said:

I also thought Vanders had a good, solid return.  He didn't do anything special but you can see that, with more game time, he could be very, very handy with finals around the corner.  You could almost expect him to keep his spot when Melksham returns, as I feel like he brings a little more to the table than someone like JKH. 

Having said that, it goes to show that we had good depth and there will be some fierce competition for spots in the next three weeks.

I don't think VDB is competing with JKH. They play very different roles and Idon't think VDB has the tank to fill that role.  Ipersonally see him competing with Truck, Melk, Kent, and to a lesser extent Fritsch and Spargo. Harmes too until he found his feet in the midfield. 

 

That being said, most of the time you pick your best 22.

13 minutes ago, Nasher said:

96 point win - tough crowd!

They were witches hats and we didn't train all that well...

4 minutes ago, Dirts said:

I have some concerns about Franklin. He will fire as will the rest of the swans. We need to get on top from the go and smash them. No silly stuff. Win next week and you can book the first round of final tickets, lose and we may be in the same boat but with points.

Exactly. I still don't feel like I can breathe.

Having said that... no Gaff in two weeks helps.

30 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

Salem was class.

He is the best kickin our team by a margin imo.

 

Good win, fairly strong win, but very stop n go against a very much weakened opponent. If we have those lapses in intensity against the Swans then we will suffer. Finals a chance especially with our % but another win is a must, infact maybe we will need 2 wins. Time for a few players to play out the full 4 quarters. This is my main concern.

Amazing how winning well changes things, the post match thread has only three pages!

Win our last 3 and we finish 2nd with a double chance and 2 home finals ... today was almost a distraction.  We've come a long way.

Motivation can work in many different ways but every player would be acutely aware of the above equation.

But of course it's one week at a time so we simply need to take care of the first part of the equation next Sunday.  I'm backing the team to do so.

That Gaff hit was appalling. Completely unnecessary - Brayshaw wasn't even niggling him. Disgusting behaviour.

4 minutes ago, Dappa Dan said:

Exactly. I still don't feel like I can breathe.

Having said that... no Gaff in two weeks helps.

Still good at Optus. They play it well. Hopefully they have locked in top two. And slack off

I notice Oliver has come into 15/1 for the Brownlow.

I know GC were bad today, but gee whiz if we get rolling in the next couple of weeks we could do serious damage in September.

5 minutes ago, old dee said:

He is the best kickin our team by a margin imo.

 

Always been a fan of the leb stallion. Will start to displays his ability over next session or two. Yes kelly would have been awesome but I think we will equalise in the next year or two!

Who would have thought, just a few years ago, that we would find something to complain about when we win by 96 points.

1 minute ago, Wiseblood said:

Who would have thought, just a few years ago, that we would find something to complain about when we win by 96 points.

Almost any regular reader of this forum actually.....

16 minutes ago, BrisbaneDemon said:

I thought Joel Smith played his best game for the club today, although it was against a weaker side, those games can be a real confidence booster, a real shame is looks to be gone with a season ending injury again.

Yes, repeat of the Stretch situation. Unfortunately. Looking good for next year though.

Where's Joeboy? My weekend isn't complete without hearing that Tyson was prolific but wasteful.

1 hour ago, Wiseblood said:

Outside of the Joel Smith injury, this was the perfect win IMO.  

Just look at the maturity of the players in the last term and the way in which they continued to hunt the opposition with crunching tackles and hard running.  It was fantastic to watch and further proof of how far this side had come.

I know many will talk about the Gold Coast injuries, and you can't argue they fielded a very poor side today, but we are still missing Lever, Viney, Hibberd and Melksham, four very important players for us and it shows how good our depth is that, even with those guys out, we can still smash a side by 16 goals.

So much to like about our performance as a whole, and to come out and put the Suns to the sword in the first term was very satisfying to watch.   You could name 15 players who had a major impact, and everyone played their role.

Enjoy it all, as this Melbourne side has the ability to go somewhere special this year.  The last 3 games, to me, are all extremely winnable and I see no reason why we can't finish in the Top 4 at the end of Round 23.

Demons!

IMO that was the worst side to set foot on the field in the history of the AFL.

We were average and would have struggled against 15 other teams today.

The backline continues to be a major concern. Oscar McDonald and Bernie Vince will be exposed against a better team if they don't lift.

The most unsatisfying 96 point win I will probably ever experience but glad it's over and our percentage is looking good.

Fritsch's kicking has turned into a Melbourne players' now and his skills were poor apart from his great pass to Braysahw in the centre.

6 minutes ago, old dee said:

He is the best kickin our team by a margin imo.

 

I've been debating this for a while with mates since Watts left. There are plenty that are on the same tier IMO.

Tracca's colours have been lowered lately because of his goal kicking accuracy. But he is prodigious. Probably our longest kick.

Hogan, according to my brother, is the team's best field kick. I think that's a little much, but it's not a completely ridiculous assertion. He made the point a while back and was laughed at, and like any good footy mates, we take every opportunity to point out his mistake. Thing is, if you take a close look, Jesse's field kicking to a target inside fifty... when he gets it... is pretty amazing.

Oliver was my version of the above. I rate him as high as anyone in the list, and this is based on what I saw in year one. Everyone else is very much late to this party. He is as prodigious as anyone on the list, just doesn't have the distance/penetration. Apart from the fact he's the best midfielder of my lifetime in red and blue, and the best since Robbie, he is the definition of a "beautiful" footballer. Makes AFL look like a world sport.

Salem I love, but I love him more with space and time. Has touch and delicacy to drop it over a contest into the lap of someone, which is what separates him from other HBs.

Lewis very much a Salem-like kick. Probably another 5-10 metres in terms of distance though.

Vince is a booming kick. Probably not as deft as he was 5 years ago, but still can kick the leather off the thing.

Hibberd I trust. Good distance, good accuracy. Just a reliable wonderful disposer both in decisions and execution.

Melksham has blown me away this year. Basically the perfect inside fifty touch. If we could find a way to Stevie Johnson his career, we'd be frightening.

Fritsch is a VERY good kick. Could be a great kick in time.

Garlett can turn it on. Snapping and dribblers a strength obviously. Wastes it as often as he uses it well.

There's a few pothers. Pedo is a glorious long kick for a big man. Picture perfect. Kent is a long kick, but not sure he has shape.

Other than that, noone on the list inspires much confidence.

Where have the Tyson bashers gone...?

He and Jones had strong games and hit a lot of targets

13 minutes ago, Watts the matter said:

IMO that was the worst side to set foot on the field in the history of the AFL.

We were average and would have struggled against 15 other teams today.

The backline continues to be a major concern. Oscar McDonald and Bernie Vince will be exposed against a better team if they don't lift.

The most unsatisfying 96 point win I will probably ever experience but glad it's over and our percentage is looking good.

Fritsch's kicking has turned into a Melbourne players' now and his skills were poor apart from his great pass to Braysahw in the centre.

I don't think I've disagreed with a post more than I have with this one.

Well done.

Edited August 5, 20186 yr by Wiseblood

i thought we did not play our best footy in the second and third q's and yet we still managed to beat them by 96 points. Says a lot about the caliber of our team and their ability to get the job done albeit against horrible opposition. 

Hogan was really good and stood up when usually being double teamed. TMAC was inconsistent in front of goal and generally did not have much of an impact, wondering if his injury from earlier in the season is troubling him. 

mids were reliable and damaging as useful, gus, clarry, max, Harmes were all brilliant. Vanders did not do a whole lot in his return but did enough to keep his spot i reckon. backline was rarely troubled although it was annoying that sexton kicked 5. 

that was a must win (by at least 60 points) and we stood up and are continuing to make our name for ourselves as a finals contender. 

big game next week against Sydney and it is a game both players and fans alike are all looking forward to. 

Come on dees!!!!!!!!!!!!!

38 minutes ago, Nasher said:

96 point win - tough crowd!

It was a tough crowd if you were there. I couldn't believe the amount of whinging going on when we were 70-80 pts up!

I reckon we're abetter chance against WCE in two weeks than the Swans.

Optus stadium is longer and narrower than the G, and we've played grounds of those dimensions well the last two years but struggled at the G.

WCE have been out of form and coasting a bit. NicNat and Gaff are big outs for WCE, particular because they give us a dominate ruck and take away Gaffs strength (hard 2 way running) which had the potential to exploit us out the back on transition. 

On the other hand, Sydney have been out of form and have only played one game at the G this year. Franklin may be a worry because we don't have a suitable defender for him.  I think we'll try to mitigate his effectiveness by controlling the game so he only gets the ball too far upfield. 

Both games are winnable and I'll break us both right now. 

16 minutes ago, Wiseblood said:

Who would have thought, just a few years ago, that we would find something to complain about when we win by 96 points.

2 years ago this round we lost to Geelong by 100...

2 minutes ago, Wadda We Sing said:

2 years ago this round we lost to Geelong by 100...

nah ... we lost to them in our usual last game failure ... Roos' last game etc etc.

Next three weeks will tell us a lot about this football club.